UMUC’s Ben Heise Finished Third In National Cyber League Competition

Combined team of UMUC and Capital College (Md.) students finish third

Ben Heise, a junior majoring in computer networks and security at University of Maryland University College (UMUC), recently finished third nationally in the National Cyber League’s (NCL) fall 2013 individual competition.

More than 1,500 students competed in the “capture the flag” competition. Heise was also part of a combined team of students from UMUC and Capital College (Baltimore) that finished first in the NCL’s Eastern Conference bracket of the Silver Division.

“It was exciting to finish so high,” Heise said. “The challenges we had to meet ranged from easy to very, very hard. I recognized the names of people that I have seen do very well in these types of competitions, so I was extremely pleased with my result and the results of our team.”

During the event, the teams were divided into three brackets. The bronze bracket consisted of novice players, the silver bracket included intermediate players, and the gold bracket featured experienced players. The NCL also divided teams into three geographic conferences, including the Eastern, Western and Midwestern regional conferences.

“It is a great accomplishment to rank in the top three at a national competition,” said Jeff Tjiputra, academic director of the UMUC Computer Networks and Security and UMUC Cybersecurity programs. “This is yet another example of the quality and skill level of UMUC Cybersecurity students. We are very proud of this accomplishment at this competition.”

The National Cyber League was founded in May 2011 to provide an ongoing virtual training ground for collegiate students to develop, practice, and validate their cyber security skills. Using lab exercises designed around industry-recognized, performance-based exam objectives and aligned with individual and team games, the NCL is a first-of-its-kind experiment in learning and gaming, using next-generation high-fidelity simulation environments.